Iron Maiden

Not one I'll be listening to again

This is beyond unlistenable, unfathomably worse than even Bat Out of Hell and the Zep…FFS!!!!! Tom.

Dreadful from start to finish

No

ruim

Nomás me gustó Prowler, como que se va poniendo aburrido mientras avanza y está muy rock en tú idioma. Obvio que esto fue antes vea, pero tiene la misma onda jajsjaja Muy family friendly pero creo que es porque está genérico

I just don’t understand the enjoyment of listening to an album like this. Too intense. I also think the sound just gets old after a while.

Not for me

Like steel wool to my divine femininity 💕 like gasoline to my misandry 💕 also at the end i was like “maybe im a hypocrite bc i love Misfits tho” but it was bc Misfits started autoplaying 💕

Unpopular opinion I dislike guitar solos

Gross - what a waste of my time

Nothing is present here that wasn't done better by contemporaries. Filled with dull mastrubatory riffs which dound fun to play, but are terribly grating on the ears. While it's true this album was influential, I wouldn't call that a positive.

welllll ... heavy metal nak é pra mim, odiei essa merda

muy arriba para mi gusto. soy una mina medianamente tranquila. tanta presencia de voz masculina gritando, la guitarra eléctrica tan aguda, la batería re enojada… no es lo mío. la única que me gusto fue strange world.

Just terrible

Dont mind a bit of iron maiden but this one is shit

Terrible

Crap and a shit cover. Wankers.

I feel like I have to wipe Mountain Dew and Cheeto crumbs off my keyboard to review this album. If you like tight, driving guitar riffs and flourishes that scream ‘Hell yeah, brother’ and you think a flaming skeleton riding a motorcycle is sick as fuck, boy do I have an album for you. It’s not as bad as what it inspired, but it’s not good and, well, it inspired quite a bit that we’d be better off without.

I did not like this.

Nope. Later stuff is better

I did not need to hear this before I died. In fact, by about halfway through I was actively wishing I wouldn’t make it. This, AT BEST, belongs in the book 1001 Albums to Hear Before You Turn 12. Just when you think it can’t get worse than Charlotte the Harlot, they hit you with the 10 minute long opus Phantom of the Opera (fast twiddly bit, dramatic bit, fast twiddly bit, repeat until will to live is fully sapped) which is enough to make you reassess your relationship to the work of Andrew Lloyd Webber. I imagine this is suppose to represent a turning point and the start of the new British metal scene or whatever, but really who cares?

Lifelong metalhead. This is probably Maiden’s worst album, and is absolutely its worst pre-90s. It’s not even the best of the two featuring their original singer. Chintzy production, transparent and awkward songwriting, and Di’anno is a far inferior vocalist to Dickinson. The elements of what the band would become are there but any of the next 5 albums deserve a place on this list over this one (I peeked and their greatest did somehow manage to get included). Only a group of Very Smart critics would have picked this, probably because of its perceived influence on NWOBHM. But an album that someone unfamiliar ‘should listen to’ in 2025 should have something to offer that listener in 2025. You shouldn’t have to have a PhD in early British heavy metal to appreciate it.

second Iron Maiden album i got. Not much else to say than i already have. I'm sure they are great musicians i just really don't like metal. And Number of the Beast was at least more interesting than this.

It’s as if the clangers dropped acid and recorded an LP. Worst album on here so far

wanted to hate it and mostly did, but get the vibe others may dig.

Odio il metal

Hmm won’t listen again but reasonably raw

Growing up i always wanted to get into Iron Maiden. Loved their album covers and the cool Jean jackets my peers wore. Then I remembered why I didn't....the music.

🫠

Pretty poor stuff.

this album is corny as hell and it sounds way too thin.

niet mijn ding

Nope

Not really my thing. There are some good bits but not enough.

They can shred and do ballads!! They posture about their live free nature and degrade women. And they write their own self congratulatory bio on Spotify. Pitiful.

Just no…

Meh

I may not make it through this one

nah

This is really really boring. Nothing heavy about it, pure middleweight metal. I don't know who would enjoy this?

Boring?

No.

Never been my thing. I can’t take this music seriously.

p463. 1980. 1 star. Generic Brit heavy metal. It's Spinal Tap, isn't it? On the plus side, its short.

1980, le punk a déjà bien secoué le cocotier, la new wave pointe son nez synthétique, et au milieu de tout ça, une vague déferle sur l'Angleterre, une vague de gros son, de cheveux longs et de denim élimé : la New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Et au sommet de cette vague, un nom qui claque comme un coup de cymbale : Iron Maiden. Leur premier album éponyme. Une pochette iconique avec cette mascotte déglinguée, Eddie, qui allait devenir plus célèbre que certains membres du groupe. Un statut de classique absolu, une pierre angulaire du heavy metal. Sur le papier, c'est du lourd, de l'indispensable, du "tu-peux-pas-passer-à-côté". C'est bien pour ça qu'il est dans ce putain de bouquin. Sauf que voilà. En 1980, j'avais dix ans. Mes oreilles commençaient à peine à se former, et elles allaient très vite prendre le pli du post-punk, de la cold wave, de tout ce qui était tendu, sec, et surtout, qui allait droit au but. Pour moi, un morceau, c'était une idée, une énergie, un message balancé en trois minutes, et puis basta. On ne s'embarrassait pas de fioritures. Alors, aborder ce premier Iron Maiden en 2025, avec mes 55 balais et ce bagage musical, c'est comme essayer de faire rentrer un semi-remorque dans une place pour Smart. Ça coince. Ne me faites pas dire ce que je n'ai pas dit. Il y a de l'or en fusion dans ce disque. Une énergie brute, quasi punk, qui transpire de chaque sillon. La section rythmique, bordel ! Steve Harris et sa basse galopante qui mène la danse comme un général d'armée, et le regretté Clive Burr qui martèle ses fûts avec une précision et une puissance démentielles. Ça, c'est la fondation, et elle est en béton armé. On sent que ces mecs-là ne sont pas là pour enfiler des perles. Et puis il y a la voix. Paul Di'Anno. Le chanteur originel, le prolo enragé, le hooligan des cordes vocales. Rien à voir avec le chant de sirène opératique de son successeur. Di'Anno, il beugle, il crache, il a une gouaille de pub londonien qui donne à des titres comme "Prowler" ou "Running Free" une urgence et une authenticité incroyables. C'est sale, c'est teigneux, et franchement, ça me parle. On sent le goudron, la crasse, la jeunesse qui veut en découdre. Des morceaux comme "Phantom of the Opera" ou "Transylvania" déploient des mélodies et des riffs qui, pris isolément, sont d'une efficacité redoutable. On sent le potentiel, la puissance d'écriture qui fera du groupe la légende qu'il est devenu. Et puis... le drame. Le solo. Ce moment maudit, systématiquement, où le morceau, qui tenait la route, qui me faisait taper du pied, décide de faire une pause technique pour que les deux guitaristes, Dave Murray et Dennis Stratton, puissent nous étaler leur science. Je vais être cash, et que les fans me pardonnent, mais je n'en peux plus de ces solos. Cette manie typiquement heavy metal de balancer un dégueulis de notes à la vitesse de la lumière, cette espèce de masturbation de manche qui, pour moi, ne sert strictement à RIEN. Ça n'apporte rien à la chanson. Au contraire, ça la casse. Ça brise l'élan. C'est de la pure démonstration technique, un concours de celui qui a la plus longue... gamme. Et c'est là que le bât blesse sur tout l'album. Chaque putain de morceau ! Tu as un riff qui tue, une ligne de chant qui t'embarque, et BAM ! T'as le droit à ta minute de tricotage guitaristique. Ça pollue le truc. Ça le dénature. On passe d'une énergie rock'n'roll pure et dure à une sorte de kermesse de l'école de musique. Et ça me rend fou, parce que les chansons sont bonnes ! C'est comme avoir un plat magnifique devant soi, et voir le serveur arriver pour y verser une louche de Ketchup. C'est un sacrilège. Alors, oui, "Iron Maiden" est un album majeur. Historiquement, il est incontournable pour comprendre l'émergence de tout un pan du rock. Il a défini un son, une attitude, et a lancé une carrière stratosphérique. Pour le projet "1001 Albums", sa place est justifiée, ne serait-ce que pour l'aspect "culture générale". Mais pour moi, personnellement, l'écoute fut une torture. Une frustration permanente. Le sentiment constant de passer à côté d'un grand album de hard rock à cause de cette manie, de cette convention du genre que je rejette en bloc. C'est l'album qui incarne le fossé entre le punk qui dit "l'énergie d'abord" et le metal qui répond "la technique d'abord". Pour moi, ce sera un petit 1 sur 5. La frustration est trop grande. J'ai entendu de superbes mélodies, une énergie folle, mais elles ont été systématiquement sabotées par des solos qui me sortent par les trous de nez.

Wank

stupid asf

Never could get into metal

just doesn't scratch that itch. maybe one ok-ish song... Phantom of the Opera?

Not my bag at all.

Not my vibe. Not my tribe. That cover is well too scary as well. Gonna give me nightmares, man.

Never really got into Heavy Metal & at the age I am now never will. When a teen I had a fight with a lad after school - he had a huge Iron Maiden patch on the back of his denim jacket with the sleeves cut off, he caught me in the face with his studded leather wristband - so Iron Maiden since then have been a bit of a nemesis to me. I saw the lad this year- fat, old & bald, karma.

This is just a bit too much testosterone-overdosed fist-pumping. 1970s/80s heavy metal, basically. I can't see myself ever going back to this for any reason whatsoever.

Not my thing. At all.

Absolutely NOT!

Meh

The great universe, monotheistic gods, pagan gods, spirits of the forest, people, children, women, EXPLAIN how you can enjoy listening to a classic heavy metal album in the truest sense?! It's just like a track can be the same type in a minute, and you're like, "Buzz, you can have another 37 minutes and 48 seconds, and please repeat for 34 years." THIRTY-FOUR!! They've been doing this for 34 years, and people go in droves to boring solics, to 7-minute repeating reefs, to reefs that don't differ from track to track, just how can this be a phenomenon that has influenced the world?!

didnt act

I’m more of a Naked Delivery guy. I guess they’re good at guitars?

Another Iron Maiden?

Only listened to a few songs. Was ok but wanted to move on

Awful music, awful sleeve.

Neither this style of music in general nor this specific album's abusive and violent themes entertain me.

ja echt neit mijn ding

Cock rock. No

Ick

Gewoon niet 1/10

Mijn muziekwereld stopt altijd nabij de oerlelijke poorten naar de hel, waarboven het woord 'Heavy Metal' gespeld staat, in van die kinderachtige lettering die we vandaag de dag vooral terug zien op t-shirts van tienermeisjes. Een uitzondering hierop is Black Sabbath, wat toch bijzonder is gezien zij de pioniers zijn. Maar alles wat zo lekker is aan die band mist hier, van de duizelingwekkende drumritmes (zie 'Symptom of the Universe'), tot de heavy gitaartoon die veel bands die volgden liet klinken als 'feather light metal' (zie 'Into the Void'). En natuurlijk het charisma wat er afdruipt bij the prince of darkness himself, wat in de verste verte niet te bespeuren valt bij de droeftoeter die de vocalen verzorgd op dit album. Misschien niet helemaal eerlijk om alles met Black Sabbath te vergelijken, maar dat is nou eenmaal m'n referentiekader in dit genre waar ik eigenlijk altijd m'n handen van afhoud. Dit is één lange aaneenschakeling aan passieloze geluiden, die op geen enkele manier matchen met wat ik zoek in muziek. Het eerste nummer heeft nog wel punk-energie, maar daarna kelderde het niveau het miserabele ravijn genaamd 'hair metal' in. Black Sabbath gespeeld op Guitar Hero door een kind van 10 (ik stel me een jonge Floris voor). 4/10 Highlights: Nada

Heavy metal is voor mij het minst interessante genre om me eens in te verdiepen. Ik vind het een pretentieus genre wat streeft naar onderdelen in de muziek waar ik niet warm voor loop: strakke riffs, complexe solo's en hoge uithalen. De combinatie van lange haren, zwarte tanktops en ruige platenhoezen zorgt bij mij altijd voor een zweetlucht in mijn neus zoals je die kent uit de moshpits. Iron Maiden is daarop geen uitzondering. Blijkbaar hebben we hier het debuut te pakken waarop een oude zanger te horen is. Ook als is deze plaat wat gelaagder dan een gemiddelde plaat van AC/DC, het boeit me echt geen moment. Ik ga verder met mn leven 2/10 - geen highlights

No

Messy and lacking harmony. Excited to listen to the greats, but aside from a build up section in the final song of the Album, "Iron Maiden", nothing struck a chord. Background music from the generation before mine, and I can see why I have not heard any of these songs passively in the years since.

Meh. Nothing stuck out to me.

Having had several hard rock / heavy metal albums in a row now...I'm over it. Hopefully this is the last one for a while!

Not my cup of tea. I suppose it is ok for what it is, but there is so much more I would prefer to listen to. 1.5/5

not a fan

Ew

It’s a no for me.

Rocky Horror, but for nondescript jocks who like Hair Metal-adjacent "stuff." It's so obnoxiously testosterone-fueled that it's almost like a parody of masculinity. I'll settle for Gwar over this any day of the week. I either need stoner metal, doom metal, or for heavy metal bands to commit to the bit and make things campy.

I’m too old. Just can’t do it anymore. That said, I can appreciate parts of this album.

Not my style.

The best thing I can say about this album is, "there's only 8 songs on it". I know it's from 1980, but it's painfully cringe. It sounds like a parody metal album that Tenacious D would release, from the weird song names to the goofy self-titled end track. Yikes. 🤦 Prepubescent me was right back in the day - Iron Maiden are wank. 👎👎

2024-01-22

Yea, this was a no for me. I'm pretty sure the first solo in the first song had some views that sounded out. Generic old man rock, pointless long guitar solos, boring singing. Even taking into consideration when the album was released, it's still so so bleh Nah

I’m not much of a heavy metal fan.

I was able to access this album only through you tube, and there were commercials between each song. I got frustrated and turned it off after 3 songs.

I have listened to this album before.

utter crap

Listening to makes you look like the cover

I have yet to truly distill what it is about metal that turns me off. It is not the brashness or loudness or violence or difficult thematic content; I am a fan of several aggressive hip-hop, noise rock, punk rock and experimental jazz groups. Nor is it the general silliness; I will happily listen to jazz musicians playfully jeopardise melodies and tonality. Nor is it even metal, I like plenty of Black Sabbath and a sprinkling of other metal groups. Could it be the lack of sincerity? Metal bands play at being tough, but typically shy away from hard questions. (Whereas punk is political, metal fantasises about the Devil and other horned red beings). Metal bands embrace silliness with a lack of self-awareness and play at being technical (listen to the guitar tapping, just listen to the guitar tapping) without serious study of music theory. What is the Giant Steps of metal? Not that one is needed, but for a genre which puts so much emphasis on technical prowess, it seems implausible that so little of the soundscape outside of E Dorian (and drop D) has been explored. Would it be unjust to call metal the wrestling of music? Iron Maiden suffer from all of these ailments. This album is a messy heap of testosterone, goofing about, guitars, and yes, guitar tapping. Sincerely, no.

Not my kind of music

Ruuuuuuuubish

Didn't liked.

So I didn't enjoy this at all, but I found it less objectionable than I was expecting. You can understand the lyrics! It sounds like music! On the spectrum of metal this was probably quite good. For me, not great. But for metal, pretty good!

Worst yet

Totally don't like this album at all.

I was expecting to be bored and that was exactly what I got. What a piece of crap

Durge

Better than Judas Priest but not my cup of porridge

Multiple Iron Maiden on this list? I can abide by one, but MULTIPLE? How do you name yourself after a medieval torture device, than go on to make the pillowy-softest metal music known to man? One soft serve cone out out of five 🍦

wow. this album completly amazed me. i thought with my prexisting prejudice against heavy metal that this album would be totally fucking worthless. i thought the chord changes would be entirely predictable and without feeling of any kind. i thought there would be big silly slow ballad sections with no melodies throughout. im amazed, because i was absolutely spot on, this album is fucking detritus

Boring.

Heavy metal has not and won’t ever be my thing. Sorry not sorry

How shall I put it best? I can't stand Iron Maiden.

Meh - not my cuppa tea.

No Dickinsons, weird vocals, no bangers. Still fun. 3.5*

The song “Strange World” is reminiscent of Pink Floyd. Less metal-y than expected.

a bit samey

Några bra låtar. Inte deras bästa album om man säger så. Helt OK.